The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) seeks to promote a new research focus for the Border Biomedical Research Center (BBRC) in the area of Neuroscience and Metabolic Disorders. This will be accomplished through (1) support of a new existing faculty member in Biological Sciences for the study of the neurochernical basis of sleep and sleeping disorders; (2) upgrading of a Neuroscience Lab for neurochemical and behavioral studies in animal models of brain trauma and eating disorders; (3) technical assistance to increase research productivity; (4) support for accomplished visiting research scientists for brief periods of residence to provide training and establish continuing collaborations with BBRC researchers; (5) support for a visiting clinical scientist to participate in both clinical and animal studies on the genetic basis and nutritional treatment of diabetes mellitus; (6) sabbatical awards to enhance the competitiveness of UTEP faculty through work with accomplished investigato rs at other institutions; (7) travel support to attend national meetings for presentation of research results, participation in workshops, or consultation with senior colleagues; and (8) augmentation of information retrieval capabilities by supplementing the library's serial subscriptions and monographs in the areas of neuroscience and metabolic disorders, and through telecommunications upgrades to better access the world's biomedical literature. These measures are designed to (1) raise the quality of research in neuroscience and metabolic disorders at UTEP to a nationally competitive level capable of sustaining independent funding, and (2) promote the application of basic research findings to the health problems of UTEP's predominantly minority service population.